CLP has a subsidiary in Australia which has set a standard to cap emissions, according to Yeung.

She also explained that the carbon intensity reduction did not amount to an actual cut in carbon emissions if the company continued to increase its energy production.

“They are playing with figures to give the public an impression that they are a green company,” she claimed, adding that power plants are Hong Kong’s largest greenhouse gas emitters, accounting for about 70 percent of total CO2 emissions in the city.

“The government only restricts power plants’ air pollutants at the moment but to combat climate change, it should also regulate their CO2 emissions.

“If power plants exceed the caps, they should be penalized financially,” she said.

CLP on Friday said a major initiative for Hong Kong is to bring in a liquefied natural gas terminal to increase natural gas in fuel mix of up to 50 percent for power generation against the current 30 percent.

Developing an offshore wind farm in Hong Kong is a possibility that the company will also look into.

CLP now operates one coal-fired power plant in Hong Kong at the Castle Peak power station.

The company said it is committed to not building new coal-fired power stations in Hong Kong or in developed countries.

It has plans for a transition from conventional coal to more climate-friendly fuels or technologies.

In developing countries where the company has conventional coal-fired generation plants, it will ensure they can be fitted with carbon capture and storage equipment to tackle emissions.

Greenpeace climbers captivate power plant urging government to regulate its CO2 emissions

Hong Kong SAR, China — While the UN Climate Conference in Bali is thrashing out solution to global warming, two Greenpeace vessels gear towards the Castle Peak Power Plant, allowing the climbers to scale to a 30M-tall ash silos and suspend a 15m x 15m banner reading “Climate Change Starts Here” to protest against the government shirking its responsibility to restrain greenhouse gas emission from power plants.

Four Greenpeace climbers captivated today the largest local perpetrator of climate change, CLP Castle Peak Power Plant, while the UN Climate Conference in Bali is thrashing out solutions to global warming. The climbers scaled the fly ash silos and dropped a massive banner to urge the government to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants as a move to tackle climate change.

Frances Yeung, Greenpeace Climate and Energy Campaigner, says the action alerts the public to indifference of the government to damages the power plants have done to the climate. “While other countries and metropolitans have already taken actions, Hong Kong government has made no immediate response to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the power plants. Donald Tsang’s boast of his concern to global warming is far from the truth,” says she.

Power plants are the biggest local source of greenhouse gas emissions, which account for about 70% of carbon dioxide emissions (the major warming gases) in Hong Kong. Among them CLP is the biggest polluter, responsible for half of the release.

At present, the Government does not regulate emissions of carbon dioxide. Greenhouse gas emissions in Hong Kong have been increasing rapidly over the decade. Between 1990 and 2005, the emissions have increased 14%.

The government is now negotiating the new Scheme of Control Agreement (SOC) with the two local power companies which will last for 10 years. Greenpeace believes that global warming is too serious for the government to allow power plants to continue damaging the climate. The government must limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and their profits must be deducted if they exceed the emission caps.

Six green groups have accused the government of not doing enough to curb greenhouse gas emissions, saying the new scheme of control will not force power companies into line.

Staging a protest at the Environment Bureau yesterday, members of the alliance urged authorities to cap carbon dioxide emissions for power plants and deduct their profits if the targets are not met.

Greenpeace said CLP Power and Hong Kong Electric are responsible for emitting 70 percent of carbon dioxide in the SAR and are the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions

The groups are angry that the government only regulates emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and respirable suspended particulates, but not the chief greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide .

“While countries around the world are actively fighting global warming, the SAR government simply allows carbon dioxide emissions to damage the climate without regulation. The government should not shirk its responsibility,” Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner Frances Yeung Hoi-shan said.

The alliance also wants a new scheme of control to set targets to reduce energy consumption and sanctions imposed if the power firms fail to meet the targets.

“Energy saving is the most cost- effective means to control greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality. However, the government has suggested offering incentives to power plants to improve energy saving and demand-side management which, however, are not compulsory and only serve as foil,” Yeung said.

The groups included Friends of the Earth, Greeners Action, Green Sense, WWF Hong Kong and Clear the Air, along with Carbon Dioxide Foundlings.

The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) is going to renew the process license for the Lamma Island power plants of Hongkong Electric Company (HEC) very soon. It will also be the first time for the EPD to include emissions caps for the 3 air pollutants in the license. Greenpeace and Clear The Air urge the EPD to make good use of this renewal process to hold HEC accountable for their major role in Hong Kong’s air pollution, by setting yearly emission caps from now till 2010, and raise the penalty of excess emissions to a level that can deter non-compliance.

HEC is the second largest air polluter in Hong Kong. HEC supplies electricity to only 20% of Hong Kong’s population, but it emits 40% of SO2 in the power sector. (Note: appendix 1) Gloria Chang, Greenpeace campaigner, emphasized that, “It is high time for our government to set more stringent emission caps and raise penalty so as to push HEC to clean up our sky.”

Greenpeace and Clear The Air propose a gradual reduction approach for emission caps. The license for power companies should include a set of yearly emission caps that can ensure a decrease in emissions from now up to 2010. This approach can enable Hong Kong people’s ‘right to know’ the progress of planned reductions, whether the power companies are successfully approaching the overall 2010 reduction target and make sure that power companies cannot delay their actions to reduce emissions at the expense of society.

Furthermore, Greenpeace and Clear The Air demand that the EPD raise the penalty of excessive emissions to a level that is high enough to impact shareholder profits, not only to pressure the power companies to reduce air pollutants at a faster pace, but also to cover the social and health costs brought by air pollution.

Greenpeace and Clear The Air support the financial penalty as proposed in the “Future Development of the Electricity Market in Hong Kong: Stage II Consultation”, in which the permitted rate of return of power companies would be reduced if they fail to meet the statutory emission caps. This measure will be much more effective than the existing penalty as stated in “Air Pollution Control Ordinance” which is [a fixed fine of] HKD 100,000. (Chapter 311, Section 10, Claust 7b)

Also, Greenpeace and Clear The Air suggest that the EPD consider the penalty imposed on power companies under the US government’s “Clean Air Act”, where HEC would be fined US $2,000 per tonne of SO2 emission that exceeds the cap. If we use this level of penalty together with our gradual reduction approach, the penalty of HEC last year is estimated to be HKD 70 million. (Note: Appendix 2). Even this penalty would only amount to less than 2% of the total profit of HEC last year.

From 1997 to 2004, SO2 emissions in Hong Kong did not show the slightest decrease, but actually increased hugely – by 50%. (Note: Appendix 3) Only if the government is taking real action to tighten up the emission caps and penalty of power companies, can we have a chance to get the blue sky back.

HONG KONG — April 28 — Shareholders in the billion dollar China Light and Power (CLP) company were today confronted with the real cost of burning fossil fuels. Greenpeace activists and people from communities suffering the devastating impacts from coal fired power stations across Asia, disrupted CLP’s annual celebration of its dirty energy trade at the Hong Kong Peninsula Hotel.”

For every dollar of profit made by CLP last year, it is estimated it cost communities across the region nearly $4 in health and environmental impacts. (1)

“We are here to say no to CLP’s dirty coal business on behalf of many affected communities across the region. We demand clean, safe and renewable energy for our communities,” said Charoen Detkhum, a community leader from Thailand where the BLCP coal plant, a project funded by CLP, is being constructed.

CLP Group recorded profits of US$ 1.1 billion in 2004, their highest for a decade, mostly derived from burning coal. Greenpeace demands that CLP invests these profits in clean renewable energy projects like wind power in southern China’s Guangdong province.

“CLP are climate criminals. All across Asia their coal burning addiction is wrecking the climate, destroying the environment and poisoning people. Unless we act to stop climate change now, the consequences for humans and the environment will be devastating,” said Greenpeace China climate campaigner Gloria Chang.

Last week, Greenpeace disrupted construction of the CLP funded Maptaphut coal plant, one of the largest in Thailand.